FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – According to the National Institute of Health, one-in-three Americans suffer from neck pain every year, women more often than men.
While the symptoms are usually harmless and go away on their own, in some cases they keep coming back.
That’s why experts say it’s important to know the causes and treatment approaches for sudden neck pain.
Being passionate about fitness yoga instructor Elizabeth Reig is keenly aware of her body.
“My body is my tool. I have to demonstrate, I have to assist clients, move them, stretch them. I have to be able to bend down, pick up heavy weights and not hurt myself,” she said.
That’s why Reig was stunned one morning to wake up with excruciating neck pain.
“It didn’t go away no matter what I did and that’s when I called the doctor,” she said.
Dr. Jorge Gonzalez with the Institute of Regenerative Orthopedics and Sports Medicine said sudden neck pain that comes on apparently for no reason is not uncommon.
“I would say I probably see three to four a week that come in with the exact same complaint,” he said.
Gonzalez said the risk of aggravating neck pain increases with age and simply the way you sleep can trigger a condition called Torticollis.
“And what happens is the muscles in the neck they compact themselves or they spasm to a level where the neck actually moves to one side and they have difficulty moving to the other side or what we call the contralateral side,” he said.
Gonzalez said relieving the spasm and relaxing the tightened muscles takes a multi-level approach.
Anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxers, cortisone give orally or by injection, physical therapy, massage, and alternating use of warm and cold compresses all help to ease neck pain.
Reig also learned to take a step back and give her body a break.
“Because your body’s giving a message that something’s not right and if we keep pushing it back it’s going to get worse and worse,” she said.
Stress can also lead to neck pain because it creates an inflammatory process that causes the muscles to contract.
Other causes include arthritic changes or an underlying which is why medical intervention is so important.